A Butterfly Does Not Flap It's Wings
by thegreatpl
Summary: Sometimes, a butterfly flapping its wings can change the world. however, what happens when a butterfly does NOT flap it's wings? A small event can have wide reaching changes. Here, Emma does not hang up on Taylor when she is attacked by the ABB.
1. Training 1-1

Though I might as well throw this one up here as well. This is something I've been writing over at Spacebattles and Sufficient Velocity. It is nowhere near as dark as Queen is.

* * *

A Butterfly does not Flap its wings

Taylor smiled as her turn at the payphone came up. She had been here at summer camp for a week now, and had been looking forwards to this moment. She had decided to ration herself to only once a week.

She was happier than she had been in a long time now. Summer Camp had been good to her this year. All the other smiles and laughter had helped her. She no longer felt the sorrow that had filled her these last few years.

In her pocket, she felt the two fifty cent coins she had prepared for the two calls she intended to make. One to Emma, and one to her Dad.

She stepped up to the payphone, with a skip in her step. She was lucky there was no queue, though there were voices in the background, babbling loudly. She was the only one currently using a payphone. Everyone else was back at the nearby central area, enjoying themselves and eating their lunches.

Taylor had taken the chance to head to the payphones, trusting that they would be empty. She could grab lunch later, rather than at the first opportunity, she reasoned.

Excitedly, she put her first fifty cents into the payphone, and dialled Emma.

"Hello?"

"Emma!" Taylor said, her voice breathy, excited.

"Taylor" Emma said, sounding happy.

"Ok I gotta talk fast because I only have two minutes and I need my other fifty cents to call my dad. We rowed across the lake this morning to this waterfall, only it wasn't exactly a waterfall, more like a water stair, and we were all taking turns sliding and falling down this set of slick rocks, and Elsa, she's this girl wearing a bikini, she's been spending the last three days acting like she's hot stuff, she slides down the wrong part, and it catches on the strap, right? It doesn't tear it off, but it stretches, so it doesn't even fit her anymore…"

Emma laughed on the other end of the phone, which made Taylor grin more even as she continued babbling. This inane aimless babbling was good for her. The dark place where the loss of her Mother still hurt was shrinking, hidden.

Ready to strike if needed, but no longer as crippling as it had been.

"…and I wish I'd listened to my dad, because he suggested at least ten times that I might want to take more books, and I only brought three, and I've read each of them twice already. My…"

Taylor continued to babble on, unaware of the event which would change her destiny on the other end of the phone taking place.

"…I could probably recite this one book word for word for you by the time I get back. Maybe if I asked one of the counsellors, I could get more..."

It is said that a butterfly, from the simple act of flapping its wings, can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world. Thus, it can be said that a single change in actions can result in a chain of events that culminate in something huge, enormous. For example, a single action might result in a girl being bullied, ending up with super powers, taking over the city, then fighting a massive god-thing in an epic war that covers the multiverse.

Wait... no, that's stupid. What kind of idea is that?

Of course, the inverse if true. If the butterfly never flaps it's wings, then there is no hurricane. And a lack of a simple action, such as moving a thumb, could change everything.

Emma Barnes did not move her thumb.

The first thing that indicated that something was wrong to Taylor was the bang. Then there was the squeal of tyres on the road.

Taylor interrupted her babbling and asked, almost hesitantly, "Emma?"

She heard Alan Barnes say something, and then a second later, heard him faintly. Heard what he said, and chills went down her spine. "Emma! Call the Police!"

"Emma! What's going on?" Taylor said panicked. She heard Emma fumbling with her phone, but couldn't work out what she was doing. Then she realized; she was trying to dial 911.

"Emma! I'm still connected! Hang up!" Taylor quickly. How long did she have left on the call? 30 seconds? A minute? She couldn't remember. She looked at the payphone, and the timer on it. Less than a minute left.

Then she heard a window shatter. And then something that sent daggers into the core of her being. That she would remember in her nightmares for years.

Emma screamed.

Taylor missed the noise of the phone clattering to the floor as she stood frozen. Horror warring with shock and fear for control. Emma was her rock, who had gotten her through the darkest period of her life.

The happiness she had been feeling earlier was gone. Smashed. She had lost her mother, and right now, she may very well be losing he best friend. She had no idea what was happening, except that Emma was in trouble.

If something happened to Emma, Taylor didn't know if she could recover. Emma had been the one to drag her out of the darkness after her mother's death. If she was gone... who would drag her out.

She could hear Mr Barnes screaming as well now. Screaming Emma's name over and over again.

Taylor screamed it as well, her voice raw, panicked, screaming into the phone. In her panic, she saw that the time was almost up. She then made a move that she forever said was stupid. That she forever cursed.

She put the other fifty cents into the machine.

Perhaps it was because she was not thinking straight. Perhaps it was because some part of her NEEDED to hear this, to know what was happening, rather than be told what had happened afterwards. Whatever the reason, as soon as she heard the coin clunk into the cash box, her heard turned cold, and her mind caught up.

Emma hadn't called the police. Taylor couldn't call the police now. She had truly become powerless to help her friend. She had quite possibly doomed her best friend.

She may have just killed Emma.

Taylor screamed Emma's name again, having missed the sound of the car door opening.

She heard a tinny voice, and not one she recognized. "Hey, the bitch was on the phone"

There came a faint sound of laughter, then a whistling sound, and then a thud. Then a tinny voice spoke, different, perhaps, or perhaps not.

"You'll do _anything_? Like what?"

Taylor began to shake. What was happening to Emma? Was she okay? Would she be?

Would Taylor now lose her best friend having just gotten over the death of her mother.

Despair filled her. She was powerless to do anything. She felt the tears running down her face. Emma had helped her through the worst part of her life, and now Taylor was powerless to do anything for her in her time of need. Worse, she had perhaps thrown away the only way to save her.

She wanted more than anything to be there. To know what was going on. To help. Or if she couldn't help, to just be there. To be a rock for Emma, or to share her fate perhaps.

"Then it's the face after all. Hold her"

Terror filled Taylor at those words. She had no idea the meaning. The context. But the holding part. What were they doing to her.

Taylor screamed again. Raw. Terror filled.

She missed what was being said next through her fear and panic. She could hear in the background faint sounds of people asking where the screaming was coming from, from the place where the rest of the campers were eating.

In her mind, all she could think of was that she could do nothing. Nothing. Nothing nothing nothing. Nothingnothingnothingnothingnothingnothingnothingnothingnothing...

Taylor saw stars...

Ironically, it was the sobbing and screaming through the phone that made Emma act. She had remained still in fear, not struggling. She had remained still even as she has heard Lao ask her best friend to choose what part of her face Yan would wreck. Even as she had seen the shadowy figure not helping her.

It was Lao laughing at the silence from the other end of the phone that did it. Saying that the girl hadn't answered. Had been too busy balling her eyes out to even answer. Even though she had seemed so worried about her.

That was what made her struggle at last. That was what had made the shadow figure help out in the fight.

Emma had watched, numb, as the shadow girl had taken down the gang members. She hadn't been able to move much since the fist had hit her.

Besides, in this fight, she was superficial anyway. The gang members went down really easy.

"Emma!" a voice tinged with relief said as arms wrapped around her, hugging her tightly. Emma stared at Taylor, who had just appeared in front of her, looking into her tear streaked face before it buried itself in her shoulder.

Emma wrapped her own arms around Taylor, even as her father wrapped his around them both.


	2. Training 1-2

A Butterfly does not Flap its wings 1.2

"Are you sure about this Emma?" Taylor asked, looking at her friend.

Emma opened her mouth, hesitated, then said "Yes... I need to do this"

The two of them were walking down the street. Taylor held Emma's hand as they walked, side by side. Taylor glancing around, her eyes hard, except when they rested on Emma, where they softened.

Emma was taking deep breathes, and occasionally she glanced around. Her steps seemed forced, as if if she stopped, she did not know if she could start again.

It had been a week since the alley, and Taylor had not left her alone in that time. Always there, always supporting her. Emma's dad had covered for her at her request. The story was, she had just turned up. Hitch-hiked from the summer camp after hearing everything on the phone.

Taylor did not want to tell her dad about her powers yet. She said she feared how he would react, even this long after her mother's death.

This was the first time they had left Emma's room since they got back. Emma had asked for it.

They reached their destination; the narrow one way road where it had all happened. The dumpster was gone, as was the van.

Emma let go of Taylors hand, and took a step forwards. Looking around the street. Taylor seemed to sense her mood, and took a step back. She seemed harder now. Different.

Emma stayed there, looking. Somewhat comforted by Taylor's vigilance from behind her.

How long they stood there; the victim and her watcher. Neither of them knew. The sun was high above them when Emma at last turned to leave.

While she stood there though, she thought. She thought of how the world was an ugly place. Filled with ugly scenes. And now, Emma couldn't shut it out. Could not shake the idea that something horrible was happening around every corner.

The biggest thing that hit her was the impact that those scenes had. So many defining moments, that shaped the people they touched. The biggest and most critical moments were the ones which wiped the slate clean, invalidating the person that came before, only for another to come along instead.

She found Taylor looking at a dark sinned girl, slender, with long black hair. They were looking at each other. Carefully watching each other with hard stares that penetrated each other.

The girl noticed Emma turning, and grinned a feral grin "Takes guts" she said.

"Guts?" Emma asked, unable to imagine anything less appropriate. Taylor remained silent, standing comfortingly off to the side.

"Coming back. Only reason you'd do it is because if you were looking for revenge, or you were looking for me. Or both, depending"

Emma opened her mouth, then closed it. The realization then hit her. This here was the shadow girl. Announcing herself to Taylor and her.

Emma then asked the question she had come to ask. The question that had brought her forth from the safe confines of the room; "Why... why did you wait? You saw me in trouble, but you didn't do a thing"

"I wanted to see who you were"

"Who I was?" Emma said, though she almost understood it, in a way.

"There are two people in this world; those who get stronger with a crisis, and those who get weaker. The stronger ones naturally come out on top. There are ups and downs, but they'll win out"

"She's right" said Taylor, speaking for the first time. "There are the strong, and the weak. The strong will always be the ones on top. It is their responsibility to protect the weak"

The girl let out a snort. "Yeah, sort of"

Emma opened her mouth "And... which was I? The Strong, or the Weak?"

Taylor laid a hand on her shoulder. "You're here, aren't you?" was what the girl said.

"I want to be one of the Stronger ones" Emma said.

"I don't do the partner thing, or the team thing"

"That's stupid. A pack will always be stronger than the individual" Taylor said, eyes still hard looking at the girl.

The girl opened her mouth, hesitated, and then laughed. "Yeah, I guess so"

She grinned at both of them. "It's a philosophy. A way of looking at the world. You can look at it as... what's the word for one thing or another?"

"A binary?" Taylor said, head cocked with interested from where she stood a step behind and to the left of Emma.

"Yeah, a binary. But not any bullshit like black and white. It's about..."

"Strong and weak?" Taylor interrupted.

"Yeah! Or my favourite, Predators and Prey. Then again, I'm a hunter. And what you need to keep in mind on this world, is the biggest question for you right now; Survivor or Victim?"

"What's the difference?" asked Emma, staring at the girl.

"The survivors end up the Strongest" Taylor said, from behind Emma.

The girl grinned shark like, and simply said "Yeah. Perhaps we should continue this elsewhere? Get some food? It's lunchtime after all. And I'm curious as to what you meant by a Pack..."


	3. Training 1-3

A Butterfly does not flap its wings 1.3

Taylor pulled back the string and notched the bolt, before raising the crossbow and firing off an arrow towards the target set up in Emma's back garden.

"So that's how you got the money for your costume?" she asked, as she watched the bolt land in the ground a foot to the left of the target. She really needed to get better at that.

"Yeah. I admit, was pretty easy, just beating up guys and grabbing their wallets. Had on a piece of cloth over my face of course. Gonna be a problem with outfitting you two and the team that way though" Sophia replied, loading her own crossbow in a smooth practised manner.

Taylor nodded as she watched Emma fire her own crossbow at the target, actually hitting it this time, though in the outer ring rather than the bullseye they were all aiming for.

"Yeah. There is a limit to how much Emma can buy, especially with her paying for the martial arts classes for all of us." Emma's dad had been willing to do that as a form of therapy for Emma; getting over the attack. "Plus we need to outfit The Lair. These crossbows are a start though" she replied, pulling out another bolt.

Emma frowned as she took a step back and looked at her two friends. "How much do you think we need?" she asked.

"Well, there are costumes for me and you. Something at least knife proof for you. Preferably bullet proof actually, since you can never tell when a gang banger pulls a gun on you. Some sort of communication system. Headset or something, linked to each other, so we can talk to each other while out hunting, and whoever is manning The Lair" Taylor said, watching as Sophia stepped up and put a shot through the bullseye.

"Manning The Lair?" Sophia asked, a bit disdainfully.

"Yeah, essentially sit around and coordinate the hunt if we're hunting separately. Check the internet and any information we've gathered. Doesn't need to manned all the time if we're all out together. I figure Emma does it most of the time it is, me the rest, since my power means I can jump into the fray easy enough if more people are needed" Taylor replied as she loaded her crossbow again and took a step forwards.

"Notice you didn't mentioned me manning The Lair" Sophia said as she smoothly reloaded, faster than the other two could.

"With your power?" Taylor said as she lined up the shot "I figure it is too valuable in the field. Plus I doubt you'd do it well. Too much of a predator and not enough pack leader mentality" This time Taylor's bolt managed to hit the target, more or less. Depends if you count the post as the target really.

"I'm still not too sure about heading out with you guys" Emma said, as she finished loading and stepped forward as Taylor stepped back.

Sophia let out a small chuckle "Believe me, there is nothing more therapeutic than beating a bunch of gang fucktards heads in"

"And neither of us are going out until we are better trained. I checked the survival rates of new vigilante capes on the PHO forums, and they are not good. If we're going to do this, we need to at least be prepared first. You can never be too prepared after all" Taylor said as she watched Emma hit the target again, slightly closer this time. "Plus, that's the main reason for the console in The Lair; to give you something really productive to do that can help us when we're on the more dangerous hunts and cannot spare the time to protect you"

"Tch, I went out pretty quickly after getting my powers" Sophia said, idly firing and hitting close to the bullseye without really trying.

"You can turn intangible at will" Taylor said, finishing reloading and stepping forwards.

"Turn what?"

"Intangible; untouchable and not having a physical presence" Taylor replied as she took her shot and watched her bolt glance the edge of the target. That counted as hitting, right?

"Oh, right. How do you know all these big words?"

"Mum was an English Professor at the College"

"Huh. Guess that would lead to knowing big words"

"Anyway, you can never be too prepared. Especially when we're talking about potentially fighting other capes. Information is key. Which is why having someone on console back at The Lair is so useful. They can keep us up to date on events coming from Twitter or Facebook or the PHO. That reminds me; we need somewhere to have The Lair. Emma, you think your parents will let us have your basement for a clubhouse?"

"Um... probably. Since the attack they've been rather worried about me. Having something as normal as a clubhouse would probably reassure them. Though wouldn't a lair be rather obvious?" Emma replied, as she stepped back from having hit the outer regions of the target again. How did she manage to keep doing that?

"Nah. It'll look like a clubhouse anyway. Bunch of sofas and stuff. A computer for the console, maybe with multiple screens. A mat for practice sparing. Plus our gear like the crossbows, which your parents already know about. We can say we store them there. Only problem would be hiding things like our costumes and maps" Taylor replied as she watched Shadow Stalker fire off her crossbow and just miss the bullseye. Still closer than either of the others had gotten. Now why couldn't she do that?

"Heh, sounds like you want us to hang out down there even when we're not hunting" Sophia said, reloading smoothly.

"Well why not? I'm going to need somewhere while I use my clairvoyance power to seek out information on gangs and stuff" Taylor said. Perhaps this time she would be able to hit the target... nope, missed completely this time.

"Still gonna need to pay for all of this" Sophia said.

"Yeah. And it is both unfair and infeasible for Emma to pay for it all. Which brings us back to the problem of getting money" Taylor said, watching Emma line up to take the shot. "Way I figure it, we're going to have to hit something like a drug house where one of the gangs have a lot of money stored. That will gives us some good starting funds at least. Hmmmm, though that probably means I'll have to come along in that case. Damn it, was hoping for more practice before heading out"

Emma pulled the trigger, and Taylor watched the bolt soar out and hit the bullseye.

"Hey! I did it!" Emma said. Grrrr, now why couldn't she do that, Taylor thought.

"Anyway, probably best to just keep practising for now. I'll use my clairvoyance to find us somewhere to hit. Probably Merchants or other small time gang, since less chance of running into a cape" Taylor said, turning back to the task at hand.

Sophia and Emma nodded, and Sophia began to give tips on using the crossbows.

* * *

AN: So apparently I sort of screwed up how easy it is to aim with crossbows in this chapter ^^' because apparently it is really easy to aim with them. anyway, consider this just when they got them.

Still, review away. I always enjoy hearing peoples opinions on my work, both critique and praise.


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